Richard
Foster, the chief actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services, said Friday night that he received a handwritten note from
[Thomas] Scully, then the centers' administrator, in early June ordering
him to ignore information requests from members of Congress who were
drafting the drug bill.

....The note was Scully's first threat in writing, Foster said, and
came after at least three less formal threats. They "came in different
forms," he said. "Sometimes he would make a comment that 'I think I need
another chief actuary,' or 'If you want to work for the Ways and Means
Committee (which was drafting the bill) I can arrange it.' It was that
sort of thing."

Bill Frist's spokesman said, "If an
individual's job was threatened and if they were trying to shield
information from Congress, that could be an issue of concern."

Ah, yes, an "issue of concern." I suppose it would be at that, wouldn't it?

An
earlier analysis [by Foster] suggested that a Republican plan to inject
market forces into Medicare could increase premiums for those who stay
in traditional programs by as much as 25 percent. If that's still the
case, it could help Democrats who argue that the GOP plan is risky for
those who want to stay in traditional Medicare, where they can pick any
doctor, rather than move to a managed care plan.

...."The administration is resisting the release of it because it's
not good news for the Republican House plan," said House Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

No, not good news at all. But we wouldn't want to let the facts get in the way of ideology, would we?

Gad, I'm beginning to think that this administration simply enjoys intimidating people for the sheer hell of it.

No, they're really doing it for fun and profit. But lest you think
there's absolutely no justice in the world, Billy Tauzin, that creep who
helped write that garbage piece of legislation, and who is giving up
his congressional gig was just diagnosed with intestinal cancer.

He was going to go to work as a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical
industry (how convenient, a nice little payoff for the medicare drug
bonanza) until democrats cried foul.

I hate to wish anyone ill, but sometimes what goes around comes around. With a vengence.

At a Ways and Means Committee hearing last month, HHS Secretary
Tommy Thompson all but repudiated Scully's tactics. "I may have been
derelict in allowing my administrator, Tom Scully, to have more control
over it than I should have. ... And maybe he micromanaged the actuary
and the actuary services too much. ... I can assure you that from now
(on), the remaining days that I am secretary you will have as much
access as you want to anybody or anything in the department. All you
have to do is call me."

Note the phrase "the remaining days that I am secretary" Translation: It is nearly time to get off this sinking ship.

Is it just me, or does this "not uniquely comport" to truth. Let's
see, O'Neil has called them liars. Tenet has call them liars.
Cheneyburton is clearly crooked (even their subsidiaries are crying
foul, the GAO is crying foul). Republicans in congress are signing
letters asking for an independent inquiry even after Hatch tries to
close off debate in the least damaging way. Hastert gets hung out to
dry on the 9/11 commition and now says he "doesn't talk to his people"
becuase "we werent' getting straight numbers from them". All of this
from current or former administration ALLIES - and Kerry should
apologize?

When will the press start representing the truth?Has this story even
made it to a theater near you yet?Such inescapeable bullshit and the
"mainstream" media wont touch it for the lives of them!What gives???Has
the paper of record even gotten a hint of this?would they even report it
if they did?

Still so many questions and still never any answers.I HATE THE
MEDIA.All they can do is play debate games.When was the last time you
saw any investigative stories on the news,other than the local tv
looking into peeping toms and how our school lunch programs dont feed
our kids well????

I'm so fed up with this stuff it makes me sick.Maybe it is time to get the brochures out for Tahiti.

There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going
on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus," DiIulio tells
Esquire. "What you've got is everything—and I mean everything—being run
by the political arm. It's the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis."

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration's top Medicare
accountant has calculated how millions of senior citizens would be
affected by bringing private managed care into the program, but the
administration won't release the information.

An earlier analysis
suggested that a Republican plan to inject market forces into Medicare
could increase premiums for those who stay in traditional programs by as
much as 25 percent. If that's still the case, it could help Democrats
who argue that the GOP plan is risky for those who want to stay in
traditional Medicare, where they can pick any doctor, rather than move
to a managed care plan.

The administration's Medicare chief
threatened to fire his top actuary, Rick Foster, if Foster released his
calculations to Capitol Hill Democrats who requested the analysis,
officials said.

Medicare chief Tom Scully said in an interview
Wednesday that Democrats had no right to request the information from
Foster in the first place.

"They don't have the right on the Hill
to call up my actuary and demand things," said Scully, chief of the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. "These people work for the
executive branch, period."

Scully said he would release the analysis "if I feel like it."

Well, now we know WHY Scully was hiding the numbers. Question is:
what could / should have been done about it back in June 2003?

I don't care if it rains or freezes
'Long as I got my Plastic Jesus
Riding on the dashboard of my car
Through my trials and tribulations
And my travels through the nations
With my Plastic Jesus I'll go far

Plastic Jesus, Plastic Jesus
Riding on the dashboard of my car
I'm afraid He'll have to go
His magnets ruin my radio
And if I have a wreck He'll leave a scar

Riding down a thoroughfare
With His nose up in the air
A wreck may be ahead, but He don't mind
Trouble coming He don't see
He just keeps His eye on me
And any other thing that lies behind

Plastic Jesus, Plastic Jesus
Riding on the dashboard of my car
Though the sunshine on His back
Make Him peel, chip and crack
A little patching keeps Him up to par

When I'm in a traffic jam
He don't care if I say "damn"
I can let all my curses roll
Plastic Jesus doesn't hear
'Cause he has a plastic ear
The man who invented plastic saved my soul

Plastic Jesus! Plastic Jesus
Riding on the dashboard of my car
Once His robe was snowy white
Now it isn't quite so bright
Stained by the smoke of my cigar

If I weave around at night
And policemen think I'm tight
They never find my bottle, though they ask
Plastic Jesus shelters me
For His head comes off, you see
He's hollow, and I use Him for a flask

Plastic Jesus! Plastic Jesus
Riding on the dashboard of my car
Ride with me and have a dram
Of the blood of the Lamb
Plastic Jesus is a holy bar

Well the New York Times story
was presented in an interesting way online, tacking it on to a story
about the confirmation of the new Medicare/Medicaid head. Headline has
nary a mention of the Foster debacle.

The bland editorial decision technique really makes my blood boil. Others seem to be picking it up pretty good though.

You gotta love the last paragraph:

Kevin W. Keane, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human
Services, said: "In the heat of the moment, there was some frustration,
but we are not interested in rehashing the issue. We are focused on
carrying out the Medicare law, to save money for seniors on their
prescription drugs."

I'll bet you're not interested in a rehash...

These guys all sound the same on autopilot damage control don't they?
Do they install the same upgraded chip in all their heads every week?

Our children should be reading about this in history text books. It
should follow Bush everywhere he goes -- every open microphone a
reporter gets, they should be grilling this guy with questions about
this. It is that important -- regardless of your partisan affiliation.
This is a blatant, obvious lie to Congress, and by proxy the People, to
pass a politically expedient law. To the tune of $100 billion. A
normal person would get jail time for lying to investors that way.

So what will come of it? Probably nothing. What is really sad is
that GWB and crew have pushed the envelope of lying and cheating so far,
that a lot of the nonsense people believe about the 'evil' of politics
has become true.

If there is absolutely no punishment for mendacity on this scale,
what reason is there for anyone to behave honorably as politician? What
meaning does our ability to vote have if our politicians regularly lie
to us about everything they do as a matter of course?

If GWB gets reelected, I think it's through for this country. If you vote for him, you've helped that come to pass.

America has a pretty grave decision to make this fall. If we reelect GWB, it would be worse than having reelected Nixon.

Somehow I don't believe this will get much press. I predict that by
Monday, no major news corporation with nationwide exposure will utter a
peep about this story.

It's interesting to consider what would happen if something like this
happened in the Clinton administration. My guess is 24/7 news
coverage, articles of impeachment passage on the count of "Fraud", and
general uproar among the punditocracy.

I just don't know about America any more. It's no longer my country,
and I'm seriously considering Canada, Europe, or New Zealand as a new
place of residence.

I have a friend who is a United Methodist pastor. He's a good guy --
he's a Democrat. However, he's one of those that has his head in the
sand. You know, he gets his news in sound bites so he doesn't know
what's going on. He thinks things are pretty much status quo -- you
know, he believes what Bush says and doesn't check the facts, and that
Democrats are as bad as Republicans. I sent him a copy of the Dick
Meyer commentary on CBSNews.com. He responded that this was just
commonplace for politicians --they all lie -- we all lie. He thinks I'm
a conspiracy theorist. I have asked him to consider the possibility
that I am right and what a chilling thought it would be. I just wish I
could get it through his head that this time it IS different.

By the way, Bassfish, can a law made by Congress be rescinded if it
is passed fraudulently? Can the American people sue the government for
this?

The Bushites seek only to privatize government. That's all. When
it is privatized, and only then, can compassionate conservatism bloom.
Until that time, any obstacles that prevent that sea-change from
occuring, are, essentially, unpatriotic. In a time of war, the
unpatriotic are fair game for the government. Being fair targets,
should any attack upon the custodians of the government rebound upon
those who attack, the fault is strictly their own. The fault being
their own, they should be prepared to suffer the consequences of their
actions, as the government see's fit to act.

Smalfish, while I really do share your pain, the media *have* been on this one. That is, in fact, why we know about it.

Good ol' Knight-Ridder -- publisher of the Miami Herald, as well as
my local paper for 19 years, the San Jose Mercury News. Good on 'em.
They've never been really in love with Bush, and they're finding the
strength of that conviction.

What's starting to bother me, though, is this: If Kerry wins in
November, what's the day after going to be like? There is now so much of
this crap built up that I don't think the American people will be
satisfied to just shine it on and Move Forward For The Good Of The
Nation.

I think, at this point, the good of the nation demands a long and
public inquiry into all the stuff Bush has thrust upon us, and
re-ordering of our national priorities on almost every front. There's
got to some cleansing, some truth-telling, and probably some
blood-letting before we'll be ready to heal from the monstrous damage
done over the past three years.

But I don't yet trust the Democrats to go there. If they stay true to
their (spineless, jellyfish) form, they'll just want to be "positive,"
and make nice, and sweep it all down the memory hole. Maybe, if we're
lucky, that might change in the next nine months. But I'll believe it
when I see it.

"But I don't yet trust the Democrats to go there. If they stay true
to their (spineless, jellyfish) form, they'll just want to be
"positive," and make nice, and sweep it all down the memory hole. Maybe,
if we're lucky, that might change in the next nine months. But I'll
believe it when I see it."

I agree.Bill Clinton,when he came into office had Bush I on the hot
seat.If youremember he was facing congressional investigation for
Iran-contra.Cllinton being the nice guy he was decided to let ol george
off and try and make nice with te repubs.What did he got for his
efforts?Well...
In short I dont trust that the dems will do anything extreme like clean
hose in the government like it must do.The question becomes what CAN we
do?

The constitution has a clause in it"Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
government for a redress of grievances."

"and to petition the government for a redress of grievances"

"Victims of quackery often have difficulty obtaining redress through
the courts. Many are afraid of lawyers. Some are embarrassed at having
been fooled. Too often the victim does nothing, simply dismissing the
fraud as one of life's lessons."

redress--To set right; remedy or rectify.
To make amends to.
To make amends for. See Synonyms at correct.
To adjust (a balance, for example).

n. (also rdrs)
Satisfaction for wrong or injury; reparation. See Synonyms at reparation.
Correction or reformation.

"But I don't yet trust the Democrats to go there. If they stay true
to their (spineless, jellyfish) form, they'll just want to be
"positive," and make nice, and sweep it all down the memory hole. Maybe,
if we're lucky, that might change in the next nine months. But I'll
believe it when I see it.
Posted by Mrs. Robinson at March 12, 2004 10:15 PM | PERMALINK"

........................................
Under the bill, the government would subsidize a new type of insurance policy known as a prescription drug plan.

"In order to promote competition," the bill says, the secretary of
health and human services "may not interfere with the negotiations
between drug manufacturers and pharmacies and prescription drug plan
sponsors, and may not require a particular formulary or institute a
price structure for the reimbursement" of drugs.

Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, said
Sunday that if Congress wanted to give him the power to negotiate drug
prices, it could do so next year. But "that's not a reason to oppose
this Medicare bill," said Mr. Thompson, who negotiated with Bayer to
obtain a lower price for the company's anthrax medicine, the antibiotic
Cipro, in 2001.

Representative Tom Allen, Democrat of Maine, said it struck him as
absurd that "the government will not be able to negotiate lower prices"
for the drugs on which it plans to spend $400 billion in the next
decade.

"The bill will allow the pharmaceutical industry to continue charging
America's seniors the highest prices in the world," Mr. Allen said.

Representative Peter A. DeFazio, Democrat of Oregon, said, "We could
provide a much more meaningful benefit if we negotiated lower prices as
other nations have done."

Representative Rahm Emanuel, Democrat of Illinois, said: "We could
bring down drug prices if we allowed the secretary of health and human
services to negotiate on behalf of 40 million seniors. That is what
Sam's Club does."

Sam's Club, a chain of warehouse stores that is a division of
Wal-Mart, acts like a purchasing agent for its members, who can buy
low-price goods.

Republicans say that health plans will be able to negotiate lower
drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries, just as they do for large groups
of employees with private insurance.

The Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee,
said: "We tend to use the purchasing power of private entities like
individual plans to hold down costs over time. The Democrats tend to
emphasize, and thus push for, more government control, government
purchasing. We just think that competition through the private sector,
through bulk purchasing and negotiation, is a more effective means to
hold down prices."
........................................

Bill Frist seems to feel that the government shouldn't be allowed to
negotiate lower prices. The private sector and private entities will do
that. I guess the savings from the private sector and private entities
will 'trickle down' to the people. He's thinking about the people and
not his portfolio and family business.

Friends: Don't forget to do a background check on Bill Frist. His
family is the owner of a huge HMO. It was in his family's best interest
for the Medicare bill to pass. He wouldn't have been too keen to see it
either derailed or postponed. Ain't that grand? Don't think he's
looking out for US...cause he isn't.

I see the liberals are still wringing their hands because they FAILED
for eight years to provide any help to poor seniors and it took a
Republican working in the spirit of bipartisan
to get the Bill past.

Our seniors have been forced to choose between food and drugs and
have to eat dog food because Democrats failed to lead. Why I remeber
the sob stories of Al Gore about the poor...now Democrats want to take
it away from them and leave them dying in the streets.

This is just like the Patriot Act and the War on Terror and the
Education Act, Democrats in Congress support it and then attack it
later.

Posted by perpwalk: "Don't say we, you are not of mine, I'm a dem, you sir are a whiner. I work while you snivel."

Well, we can hope that you're working. But the fact remains that a
lot of Dems haven't been working for anyone but themselves and the
stores who bought them. They bear much responsibility for the corrupt
mess that is strangling democracy and freedom out of this country.

perpwalk: "And fuck you, too."

Is that the kind of work you do? We get too much of that already from
Leiberman, Daschle, Breaux, Biden, and any number of other slimy
invertebrates.

All we can do at this point is hope that Kerry is as tough as he
seems, so far. He was one of my last choices out of all of the Dems, but
he's been in scary situations before in his life, he's smart and he has
gonads, let's hope he uses both.

Still gonna vote Libertarian Kevin? Are your friends all voting
Libertarian too, as most who register as such will vote in an election
or will you help bring in change through kerry which can then create the
atmosphere for vaulting a libertarian (or independent) candidate in the
future, not this nazi regime?

The Justice Department wants to significantly expand the government's
ability to monitor online traffic, proposing that providers of
high-speed Internet service should be forced to grant easier access for
FBI wiretaps and other electronic surveillance, according to documents
and government officials.

A petition filed this week with the Federal Communications Commission
also suggests that consumers should be required to foot the bill.

Posted by mw liberal: " ... sometimes there's nothing like typing the
"fuck you" running through your mind ... They're co-opting Nader's no
"difference between the two parties" stance at a time when nothing could
be further from the truth."

I think it's more a case of you and perpwalk co-opting Bush's "if
you're not with us you're against us" arrogance at a time when you need
all the friends you can get. People strongly opposed to Bush and who see
his policies as harmful and illegal do not need to conform to your
party line in order to legitimize their opposition; nor should their
criticism of spineless Democrats who have enabled Bush be cause for a
"fuck the French" dismissal of them. Now, fuck yourself.

Highly recommended, Brian Urquhart's detailed review of a pair of books in the latest NYRB.

Urquhart reports on Blix's book first, gives Blix full credit, then
sinks his teeth into the Hutton Commission report which he calls
"meticulous" which he deconstructs quite wonderfully.

By the end of this, it was very clear to me why Tenet is wriggling
like an insect on a pin. After all, some of Tenet's inside information
would have come from "high administration officials" with close ties to
the defense industry which had, after all, supplied Saddam with specific
lethal goodies in the 1980's and which would be glad to supply even
more goodies for a 2003 war. Tenet, after all, would like to retire
eventually into several nice directorships just like any other good ol'
patriot.

"Jeffrey Citron, chief executive of Internet phone provider Vonage
Inc., said the FBI is overreaching. He said that he and other providers
cooperate fully with law enforcement, and that if the FBI has ongoing
concerns, it should strive to change the law governing wiretaps."

Good idea Mr. Citron but that would reqire changing the law which
would require Congress to vote on it, and can you imagine Congress
voting for this?

Healthy people who saced pay for the healthcare of old folks for whom
political pandering was supposed to pay their life's costs. Now Kevin
Drum is bitching because healthy people were given a break.

If you are young and out of work, Kevin's big government is something
you cannot afford with the wages you will earn. You can kiss away
another 10% of your wages, on top of the 18% already taken in
California. Thus, Kevin would fix the wor5lds problems with a 28%
entitlement tax on the workling poor.

Kerry (The current Multilateralist) Praised Clinton for Snubbing Allies

John Kerry has repeatedly slammed President Bush for not getting the cooperation of European allies before attacking Iraq.

But in 1997, Kerry praised President Clinton for planning to attack
Iraq by deploying ships, aircraft and troops over the objections of
France and Russia. ((OBJECTIONS!)

In a Nov. 1997 broadcast Kerry painted Clinton as resolute for putting U.S. war plans against Baghdad in motion.

"The president has, in effect, put military action on the table," he told CNN's "Crossfire."

"Secretary Cohen canceled his trip, the chairman of the joint chiefs
of staff canceled a trip, troops are deployed, the aircraft carriers are
being brandished. There's no misunderstanding here about where the
United States is prepared to go," the Massachusetts Democrat assured.

Kerry praised the Clinton White House for thumbing its nose at our European allies.

"Clearly the allies may not like it," said the top Democrat, before suggesting that France and Russia were spineless.

"Where's the backbone of Russia, where's the backbone of France,
where are they in expressing their condemnation of such clearly illegal
activity," he railed. (REFFERING TO SADDAM WMD)

Kerry also praised the White House for giving the United Nations the brush off.

"The [Clinton] administration is leading. The administration is
making it clear that they don't believe that they even need the U.N.
Security Council to sign off on a material breach because the finding of
material breach was made by [U.S. weapons inspector Richard] Butler."

Kerry defended President Clinton's go-it-alone war plan as the best
way to protect U.S. national security, telling "Crossfire," "I think the
United States has always reserved the right and will reserve the right
to act in its best interests."

"It's obvious that the real reason Kerry was for military action last
time around in 1997 and not now, is because the last time it was a
Democratic president thinking about doing it."

VERY OBVIOUS THAT KERRY IS BEING A POLITICAL HACK AND IF THIS WAS AL
GORE INSTEAD OF BUSH, KERRY WOULD TODAY BE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE
ARGUMENT.

Kerry praised the White House for thumbing its nose at our European allies.

"Clearly the allies may not like it," said the top Democrat, before suggesting that France and Russia were spineless.

"Where's the backbone of Russia, where's the backbone of France,
where are they in expressing their condemnation of such clearly illegal
activity," he railed. (REFFERING TO SADDAM WMD)

Kerry also praised the White House for giving the United Nations the brush off.

"The administration is leading. The administration is making it clear
that they don't believe that they even need the U.N. Security Council
to sign off on a material breach because the finding of material breach
was made by Butler.''''''''''''''''

Now how could any of you read this and not believe in your heart that
Kerry is now just being a political oportunist? Come on..game set
match...Bush wins again!

"In short I dont trust that the dems will do anything
extreme like clean hose in the government like it must do.The question
becomes what CAN we do?"

Don't say we, you are not of mine, I'm a dem, you sir are a whiner.

I work while you snivel.

perp, you're missing the tone here, and getting all sensitive. The
indisputable fact is that the Democratic Party leadership has for too
long been afraid of confrontation, and has rolled over far too easily
for the Rethug bullies. Only recently have some members of the D
(including Kerry) gone ahead and strapped on some XXL stones and started
swinging them. We must encourage this behavior by reminding them how
lame they've been. It is not wrong to be critical of one's own party, if
it makes that party stronger.

However, there is a need to keep a more nuanced perspective. Should
we win, it will be a close and contentious contest, and I doubt the mood
of the populace will be right for a full-blown Truth Commission, as
justified as it is. We must be smart in thinking up the best strategy
for cutting off the wingers' supply of kool-aid so they cannot poison
the nation in '06 and pull another Gingrich. We must shut them down
long-term! For many reasons, this means getting the GOP to purge itself
and return to its place as a rational party, rather than just allow Dem
hegemony over all politics. I'll vote straight D until this happens, but
I'd really like to have a choice between two (or more) reasonable
alternatives.

So, I think it's reasonable to discuss ideas for Dem strategy that best shows the nation (and
old-skool Repubs) how crooked these people are. We can be tough, but we
should not be vicious or mendacious. Sometimes, a little jujitsu is in
order.

Since you quote Kerry extensively in two lengthy posts, I'd like to
point out that quotations tend to carry more weight when they are
accompanied by verifiable attributions. But assuming their authenticity,
they and your remarks concerning them fail to provide proper context
for U.S./Iraqi relations 7 years ago; and they fail to make distinctions
between then and now. For instance, Iraq may have actually yet
possessed WMDs in 1997. More importantly, though, no matter any actions
then being considered by Clinton and supported by Kerry, neither of them
were advocating a full-scale foreign invasion, occupation, and
takeover.

keiser: "Bush wins again!"

The trouble is that every time Bush wins, nearly everyone else loses. Your sadistic glee in this fact defines you.

jayarbee gets angry with the truth....
I know it hurt Jay, to see the truth about John Kerry laid bare before
you.....I know you want to believe he is the one true savior, but he's a
corporate hack and a lying crooked politician...
he will say whatever happens to fit the story THAT day..and does care what he said yesterday, tomorrow.

yesterday we didn't need allies or the UN, France were Cowards,
etc....today we mustn't do anything without the UN and we shouldn't say
anything bad about France... come on its pure political hackery of the
worst kind.

Your inability to call a spade a spade says much more about you, than
me. You guys picked Kerry and your stuck with him...but you didn't
botgher vetting him at all, and now your stuck....we are going to pick
his tired carcus apart and leave you with the check!

I know it hurt Jay, to see the truth about John Kerry laid bare
before you.....I know you want to believe he is the one true savior, but
he's a corporate hack and a lying crooked politician...

If the available options in november come down to choosing between a
'lying crooked politician' or an evangalist then I for one will pick the
'lying crooked politician', at least he could be bought off or reasoned
with. I'm ready to consign this experiment with faith based government
to the trash bin of history.

'''I'm afraid I have to agree with keiser here...Clinton really was a great president.'''

Finally, someone AGREES with me. Thank You kitten..those first two
minutes of the Clinton presidency were great...but the rest really
sucked.

Clinton could have been great if he actually got something done and
didn't spend his time sodomizing the employees, not reigning in the wall
street crooks like Enron and Worldcom, allowing Al Queda to attack,
kill, train recruit with impunity, having fundraisers with foriegn
crooks and spies and pardoning all kinds of assorted vermin. That and
causing the recession and Sept 11th pretty much have sealed his legacy.

While blaming Clinton for all ill in the world you omitted warping
the minds of the American wingnuts--I mean, what bothers you so much
about the guy? Is it that he did a competent job while still having a
good time? That the middle class of America actually accumulated a bit
of wealth during his two terms, making them uppity?

Drylistener shoots a doozy..heads for the showers:
"""While blaming Clinton for all ill in the world ..""""

I beg your pardon...I don't believe I blamed Clinton for anything he wasn't responsible for
but you may just be ignorant of the facts..please spend some time studying the facts..then get back to me with your apology.
Actually I loved Clinton, he was great for getting Republicans elected.

Ohh, and Ann Coulter is too liberal for my tastes, she needs to quit holding back and go for the jugular so to speak...
Thanks, K

Thanks, Drylistener...but I can manage my sex life without you, but the offer of the BJ was a nice gesture.

I would be more concerned with John Kerry's mental state than my sex life: have you heard:

FIRST KERRY WIFE: Coming home, John Kerry, according to his former wife, suffered nightmares and flashbacks.

SECOND KERRY WIFE: Soon Heinz discovered that, even in his sleep,
Kerry is haunted by Vietnam in nightmares. The first nightmare I heard, I
was actually not with him, Heinz says. Before we got married, I was
sleeping with one of his daughters in this little shed, a little barn,
it was. He was in this little room next door. Then, all of a sudden, I
heard this tremendous banging on the wall. I said, 'Oh!' And Alex said,
'It's just Dad.' Kerry laughs an uneasy laugh. So I went back to bed,
Heinz continues, and he hit the walls again, and I said, 'Holy
mackerel!' The next morning, I said, 'What did you dream about?' He
said, 'Why?' I said, 'Because you broke down the house, almost.' He
said, 'Vietnam.'

DO WE NEED TO HAVE A PRESIDENT HAVING A FLASHBACK WHEN HE IS IN A TENSE STAND-OFF WITH NORTH KOREA???

I was all wound up to respond to perpwalk's invitation to commit a
certain physiological impossibility by launching my best "impugning the
dignity of a lady" speech (I do a good one, if I say so myself).

But, reading forward, I find that several gallants have dealt with the cad on my behalf. My thanks to you all.

I feel badly for Kevin, actually. When you compare his comment lists
with, say, Dave Niewart's or Billmon's, the quality of discourse here
suffers badly. It's almost certainly due to the preponderance of trolls
this blog seems to attract. You deserve better, sir.

Sometimes I feel the need to respond to Al, Keiser, or whoever is in
Karl's boiler room for the day. I type up an angry response. And then
90% of the time I close out the comments window without posting.

Result - relieved my irritation, didn't satisfy the offending troll with a response.

I certainly agree with all your comments about how wonderful John
Kerry is and how utterly terrible George Bush is...I agree with you and
you and you and especially you. Let's congratulate each other on all
thinking alike and having no discussions with any other opinion on the
issues of the day. Kerry good, Bush Bad, Democrats saints, Republicans
evil.

I agree with all of you that the Clinton adminstration was never
wrong, not on a single thing and created a utopia in America that Bush
managed to somehow destroy in his first 15 seconds in office. Ohh, that
terrible Bush that was selected and not elected.

Ohh yes, I agree I agree I agree......lets have a wonderful echo
chamber where we are not questioned. Let's call it
Calechochamberscript.com..no punditry..we just read the daily Democrat
talking points and agree..agree..agree!

On second thought........Nah...you people deserve better than that..you
deserve to free your minds, to be open to new ideas, new thoughts, we
will break the mainstream media matrix!

For the first time in histoy, Daschle wants to cut a program. There's
hope yet! I was against it since the beginning. I know it was in the
news last year, but how did the CBO miss it? The people in Congress said
they went by their numbers when they voted on it. As far as Kerry being
strong. Forget it. David Brooks has him nailed today in the N.Y. Times.
www.nytimes.com/2004/03/13/opinion/13BROO.html

"So, I think it's reasonable to discuss ideas for Dem strategy that best
shows the nation (and old-skool Repubs) how crooked these people are.
We can be tough, but we should not be vicious or mendacious. Sometimes, a
little jujitsu is in order.
Posted by peejay at March 13, 2004 09:45 AM | PERMALINK"

"I was all wound up to respond to perpwalk's invitation to commit a
certain physiological impossibility by launching my best "impugning the
dignity of a lady" speech (I do a good one, if I say so myself).

But, reading forward, I find that several gallants have dealt with the cad on my behalf. My thanks to you all. "

"For the sake of your ex-wife or whomever else may have a restraining
order against you, I hope you're wearing an electronic monitor on your
ankle. And please don't kick the dog again.
Posted by jayarbee at March 13, 2004 06:57 PM | PERMALINK"

keiser rants: "Finally, someone AGREES with me. Thank You
kitten..those first two minutes of the Clinton presidency were
great...but the rest really sucked."

Didn't the country do well economically?
Were we in constant danger here at home?
Did we go further in debt as a nation?
Were more or less people employed?

I mean really, what was so bad, except the constant hounding of Clinton for having a mistress?

keiser continues: "Clinton could have been great if he actually got something done"

Like producing a balanced budget after good old GHW Bush said it was
impossible, we had to grow the economy, and the Congress literally
taunted a Dem. for voting in favor of the first budget which headed us
toward a balanced budget?

Like adding more cops on the beat to bring down the national crime rates?

Like having great international relations with peoples and leaders everywhere?

Like giving a shit about ordinary folk and not just Kenny Boy Lay?

I could go on, but you already know this stuff.

keiser: "and didn't spend his time sodomizing the employees,"

one thing I agree with you about

keiser: "not reigning in the wall street crooks like Enron and Worldcom,"

I don't recall him "allowing" anything like that and there was no
"impunity". Rather, whenever Clinton tried to use military forces
against Al Qaeda the Republicans claimed he was "wagging the dog". He
was also interested in using approrpriate forces, rather than wasting
lives and billions of dollars as Bush did in Iraq.

keiser: "having fundraisers with foriegn crooks and spies"

Cite?

keiser: "and pardoning all kinds of assorted vermin."

Cite?

keiser: "That and causing the recession"

Check the sharply increasing interest rates of early 2000 and ask who
increased them. I think it was the Fed and Greenspan and all the talk of
large tax cuts by Bush which scared the economy into recession.

If you disagree you can easily cite things Clinton did to cause the recession.

If the Democrats, people who are here, reading and commenting on this
blog, really wanted either of the Clintons back in power, THEY WOULD
BE. Keep obsessing on the Clintons and we're sure to win this election.

What did Sen. John Kerry know and when did he know it about a plot to
assassinate U.S. senators hatched at a November 1971 Kansas City
meeting of his group Vietnam Veterans Against America?

According to presidential biographer Douglas Brinkley, that's the
question Sen. Kerry needs to answer. If it turns out that the Democratic
presidential nominee knew of the treasonous plan, Brinkley says he had
an obligation to go to the authorities.

"The question is: did Kerry quit [VVAW] before Kansas City or did he
quit after Kansas City," Brinkley told WABC Radio's Steve Malzberg. "If
he quit after Kansas City, that means he clearly knew about this
assassination plot against the senators and never went to the
authorities."

Kerry says he submitted his official letter of resignation to the
VVAW just days before the critical Kansas City confab. But two Vietnam
veterans who attended the session told the New York Sun on Friday that
they remember Kerry being there.

Meanwhile, copies of Kerry's resignation letter are nowhere to be found.

Brinkley, whose book "Tour of Duty" chronicles Kerry's Vietnam War
exploits, said that the former Navy lieutenant had an obligation to warn
authorities about the frightening plan, telling Malzberg, "Clearly his
critics would say, if he had known about it why didn't he report it."

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